Intercession
by opals
Summary: After the loss of a patient sends Chase seeking solace in the chapel House makes a phone call and learns a lot about the Chase family and perhaps himself.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Intercession

Author: Opals

Summary: After the loss of a patient House makes a phone call and learns the Chase family secret, and maybe something about himself.

Disclaimer: Obviously the characters are not mine.

notes: Part 1 of 3. My first attempt to write anything in this world, so I wanted to start small and play with the characters and dialogue a bit. I feel like these characters are really difficult to get a solid grip on, so if they're really bad feel free to tell me.

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It had been three hours since the Conner's kicked off. Two hours fifty-five minutes since one grieving, hysterical father had flipped out and taken a swing, and two hours forty-seven minutes since Chase had made a bee line for the chapel.

Enough was enough. House knew that his intensivist had a soft spot for kids, and he was sure he could make some snarky remark about it being a prerequisite for his admission into the seminary. However, right now House was willing to settle for just getting Chase's head out of his ass and back to work. The Connors kid may be dead, but the case wasn't solved until they knew exactly why.

House opened the door to the chapel and spotted Chase kneeling in the back pew, head bowed and lips moving silently in prayer. He walked over and sat down next to his fellow.

"So what's the deal?" he asked, startling the young man out of his thoughts. "Do you think if you spend enough time on your knees that God will bring the little tyke back from the beyond- 'cause if that's the case I know a couple of working girls who have the potential to be some real miracle workers."

Chase let out a frustrated sigh. "Is nothing sacred to you?" he asked. "Never mind. I just realized who I was talking to."

"You think God prefers penance coming form your lips over Mary, Mary Quite-"

"You're sick."

" Hey, I'm willing to entertain the possibility that God gave you that pretty mouth for a reason,"

"Go to hell," Chase muttered.

House clutched at his heart and feigned shock. "I'm hurt! You pray for the already dead, yet wish for my eternal damnation instead of trying to save my poor, lost soul. "

"It would take Armageddon for you to be anything less than a complete ass."

"So you think resurrecting a dead baby is more likely to happen?"

Chase got up off his knees and sat down next to House. "Do you think that I don't know that he isn't coming back?"

"So why waste your time here?" House asked. "You want forgiveness? Go beg it form the parents whose kid you just killed- at least they're real. Although judging from that lovely shade of black and blue on your face, I don't think they're interested."

"I don't expect forgiveness," he whispered.

House had had it. "Then why the hell are you here?!"

"I don't know, but they say that-" Chase started to speak then hesitated, unsure if he really wanted to reveal that part of himself- yet fully aware that there would be no hiding it if House were determined to get it out of him.

"Please enlighten me. They sat what exactly?" House prodded.

Chase's voice hitched, but he steeled his nerves and continued," They say that even if you don't know how to pray that the Spirit intercedes for us with groaning which cannot be uttered."

House rolled his eyes and Chase looked away, embarrassed by his admission.

"Good luck with that. You're certainly succeeding in making me groan."

"I don't expect you to understand," Chase said softly.

"Oh, good. Just clear one thing up for me though. Am I going to have to start interviewing for a new intensivist, because it looks like you may be sitting here for really, _really_ long time," he spat before getting up and storming out of the chapel.

He spotted Cameron making her way back to the diagnostics office on his way out and waved her over. " Think you can bring out your inner Care Bear and talk Goldilocks out of hiding?" he asked, gesturing to the chapel's entrance.

Cameron looked less than amused by his wit. "We just lost a patient. Leave him alone for a little while."

"We've lost patients before. Blondie in there only runs to his heavenly daddy when we lose the itty bitty ones. Do you think he was pregnant and had a miscarriage?"

"So," Cameron began with a knowing look, "you're not really concerned about him. You're just frustrated because you can't quite piece together the puzzle."

House studied Cameron carefully for a moment. "_You_, on the other hand, don't seem the least bit curious, which means either you don't give a damn or you know something that I don't."

"I don't give a damn," she said cooly and turned to walk away.

House, however, wasn't buying it and caught her by the arm. "Nice try, but when you spend enough time in the sack with someone you tend to learn all sorts of interesting things."

"Yeah. I can tell you about his birth mark if you're interested," she said and tried to pull away.

House held on. "Spill," he ordered.

Cameron still hesitated, but he could tell that she was weakening. House consciously softened his expression and went in for the kill. "I'm _concerned_," he lied.

That did the trick. "He lost a brother," she said.

House opened his mouth to speak, but she was quick to cut him off. "Don't ask me how or when exactly. I don't know and I didn't pry. I only know that much because I stumbled onto some old photos. Happy? "

"Oh, I will be once I know everything," he said and reached for the chapel door.

This time it was Cameron who grabbed his arm. "Don't you dare," she said, her voice low and dangerous. "Some things really are private."

"Wasn't too private to keep you from blabbing, he pointed out. "You just don't want him to know that you couldn't keep your mouth shut."

"And what's your motivation? You want to go in there and turn his world upside just because you can?"

House made a show of thinking about it for a moment and said, "Yeah. Pretty much."

Cameron let go of his arm and fixed him with a glare. "You need therapy even more than he does," she said before walking away.

House waited until Cameron was out of sight before reaching for the chapel door again. He hesitated a moment , then reluctantly let go of the handle. Damn Cameron and her moral indignation. Luckily, there was more than one way to get information.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Part 2 of 3. I wanted to tell the bulk of this through a telephone conversation, because I felt it left some things more open to interpretation. Feel free to tell me if the premise falls flat.

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House sat on his sofa and repeatedly tapped his cane on the wooden floor as he stared at the stolen files. Neither one was telling him anything he didn't already know- no mention of this kid in either Chase's or the old man's family medical history. He supposed that he shouldn't be surprised given how tight lipped and dysfunctional the Chase family seemed to be.

He picked up Rowan Chase's file once more and started thumbing through it. There were a couple of phone numbers listed as emergency contacts. He was hoping the files would tell him what he wanted to know, but it looked as though he would have to do this the hard way. House picked up the phone and started to dial Carol Chase, but he hung up before he finished dialing.

House then picked up the phone and started dialing the second number on the contact list-a Madeline Boyd. If there were family secrets Rowan's sister was a better bet than some half informed second wife.

He let the phone ring several times and was about to give up when he heard a slightly out of breath voice on the other end of the line say, "Hello." He surmised that he caught her just as she was walking in the door.

It didn't matter. She was on the line and it was time for the games to begin.

He put on his best phony pleasant voice. "Hello, I'm looking for a Madeline Boyd."

"Yes?"

"Great! Madeline, this is Dr. Gregory House. We've never met, but I'm-"

"I've heard of you, " she said warily. " You're Bobby's boss."

House paused a moment to smile. He never would have pegged Chase as a "Bobby", yet somehow it fit.

"Can I call you Madge or Maddy?" he asked.

"Madeline will do just fine," she said flatly.

"_Maddy _it is then." A small part of him knew that he shouldn't provoke the woman he was going to try to pry information out of, but sometimes he honestly just couldn't help himself.

He decided to get down to business. "Listen, Maddy. I hate to bother you so early in the morning, but Chase...Bobby, that is, had a bit of an abnormal white count during his last physical and I thought it would be good for me to update his family medical history. I remember him mentioning that he had a younger brother die of Leukemia , but he couldn't remember what type being that he was rather young at the time, and I thought maybe you would recall-"

"Huh?" was all that Madeline said.

House sighed then quickly backpedaled- not Leukemia then. "Oh, right. I'm sorry. Leukemia...that was Foreman's cousin. So sorry for the mix up. Chase's brother died in a car accident? "



A pause. Then, "No."

House was quickly running out of chances. "Oh. That must have been Cameron's grandma. With so many employees, it's hard to keep track of all the family tragedies. Did the little tyke drink some Draino or something?"

" Let's put an end to this ridiculous fishing expedition right now. The answer to your question is this: Ryan died of SIDS when he was six weeks old. Bobby's mother, Vivian, had a difficult pregnancy and Ryan was born premature. I doubt any of this is medically relevant to Robert and I'm not interested in playing games. Good-bye, Dr. House."

"Wait! Don't hang up."

It appeared that Rowan's sister was a little too shrewd to be sweetly finessed. He'd have to grind his answers out of her the old fashioned way- confrontational style. In reality that was more his style anyhow.

"Fine. I'll level with you," he said, voice dropping all fake pleasantries. "We lost a patient. Your nephew lost his head. I need him to get his pretty little head out of his ass before we lose more patients, therefore I need to know how Mummy and Daddy screwed him up. Was Mommy Dearest hitting the bottle while she was pregnant...maybe hitting poor wittle Robbie too?"

Maddy let out a short laugh before answering, "Absolutely not! Vivian never laid a hand on that child save for in love. He was her world…that is until gin became her world."

"Was that it then? Mommy _loved_ him a little too much- in very _un_motherly ways?"

"Dear God, Bobby was right about you. You really are a shameless bastard."

"That doesn't answer my question," he pointed out.

"Heavens no. Vivian had her problems, and it is unfortunate that Bobby was forced to watch her waste away like she did. However, she never mistreated her son in any way, so if you are quite finished with your interrogation-"

"What about your brother?"

"What about my brother?" she echoed back.

Then House was struck with an epiphany- or so he thought. It seemed to fit all the symptoms so perfectly - Rowan's guilt over being such a lousy father, Chase's fear of the old man, and his mother's alcoholism.

"He shook the baby," House stated.

"I don't follow," Maddy said.

"Rowan was a stern man, a perfectionist, _and_ he was getting older- probably didn't have the patience to put up with a screaming, annoying little brat every night. He loses his cool, shakes the baby a little too hard-"

"Dr. House," Maddy tried to interrupt, but House was hell bent on continuing.



"Mommy Chase doesn't say a word. Covers it up. The guilt and helplessness make her turn to the bottle,"

"Dr. House. No!"

"_Something _happened," House accused, "and whatever it was, it's still screwing with Chase's head. If I have to worry about him breaking down every time he does his damn job, then he's useless to me."

He heard Maddy let out a defeated sigh. "Exactly how upset is he?" she asked

" Hard to tell with him," House answered.

"Always was," she agreed.

"What happened?" House prodded. There was silence for several moments.

"You must understand," she began tentatively, " That baby meant the world to Rowan. He didn't mean to lash out at Bobby when Ryan died. It just happened. Vivian was started falling apart shortly after Ryan was born. Bobby was taking care of the baby more than she was.

Ryan died of SIDS when he was only a few weeks old. My brother...he knew it wasn't Bobby's fault , but things were _complicated._ Sometimes when you're hurting you need someone to blame."

"Makes perfect sense," House said, voice dripping with contempt. "Lose one kid, so kick the living crap out of the one you got left."

"You're jumping to conclusions. I never said-"

"You desperately want to believe the best about your brother," he cut her off.

Maddy neither confirmed nor denied House's implication. She simply continued softly, "He started pulling away from the family after that. I think he never forgave himself for his outburst and just couldn't bear to face that poor boy after everything."

"Yeah," House acknowledged, then quietly hung up the phone.

He sat quietly for several minutes and absorbed what he had managed to find out. If nothing else speaking to Maddy had confirmed his opinion that people were idiots- apparently even world renowned doctors weren't immune. _Lose one child, so abandon the other after years of raising-_

House picked up the phone and hit redial.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Part 3 of 3. Ouch. I hadn't realized how many months went by since I'd started this. Sad part is, this has been written all along, I just delayed posting, because I was never quite happy with the second chapter and likely never will be. However, in the interest of finishing what I started…here it goes..

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"Yes, Dr. House?" came Maddy 's voice after only one ring. Apparently she had been expecting him to call.

"You left out one very significant detail," he accused. "Like the fact that Robert isn't Rowan's son."

"Yes, he is," Maddy replied calmly.

House sighed. "_Legally_, yes. Biologically, no."

"He was Rowan's son in every way that mattered."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said while rolling his eyes. "Except that when Ryan was born Rowan found out that a little thing like common DNA really does make a difference. He resented Robert after Ryan died- probably couldn't stand the thought of sticking around to raise someone else's brat after his own was six feet under. That's why he left. "

For the first time Maddy seemed to lose a bit of her cool. "My brother didn't have to 'stick around' to begin with. He was well aware of the situation when he met and married Vivian. He was the one who insisted on giving her child his name."

"How noble of your brother to bag a woman twenty years his junior by promising to play daddy to her little runt. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that the Robert's mummy was quite a looker, too. A trophy wife and an heir in one swoop. The poor bastard probably thought he couldn't have kids of his own."

"Well, it's no surprise that a man like you has a hard time believing that Rowan married Vivian because he loved her, but it's the truth. He loved them both."

"Does Robert know?" House asked.

"No! As far as my brother was concerned Robert was _his_. Rowan never wanted to shatter the boy's world like that."

"What a load of crap," House spat. "It was about Rowan's world- not Robert's. Egomaniacs who think that they're God love to be worshipped. Let's face it. If there's one thing that Robert excels at, it's being a good little disciple. Your brother didn't want to risk Robert trying to track down his biological father and finding a new 'god'. I hear gods can be real jealous that way."

Both were silent for a moment.



"Interesting theory," Maddy said finally. "I can't imagine how you came up with it….Although, I have heard that this so called 'god complex' is a common affliction among doctors."

She then hung up the phone.

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House walked into the chapel the next morning balancing two cups of coffee in one hand and his cane and an ice pack in the other. It took only a moment for him to spot Chase dozing lightly in the back pew, and House quietly settled in next to him. After waiting a few minutes for the young man to wake House finally gave in to temptation and poked him with his cane.

Chase jerked awake and scowled at his boss- the angry expression rendered completely ineffective by his mussed hair and sleepy eyes. For once in his life, House refrained from laughing.

"You been here all night?" he questioned.

"No," came the defensive reply. "I left earlier for-"

"So, you've been her all night," House finished. He then extended one the coffee containers towards Chase.

At the young man's puzzled expression he reassured, "The world's not coming to an end. I made Wilson pay for it."

Chase gave a small, amused smile and accepted the coffee. House then shook the ice pack and handed it over. "For your eye," he explained.

"I'm fine," Chase said, waving it away.

"Ice it anyway."

Chase took the ice pack. House eyed the bruise for a moment then looked away .

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"There's no reason to be," Chase answered. "It's not like you-" He then noted House's uncomfortable posture and belatedly realized what the man was trying to say. "S'okay," he said, shifting slightly in his seat. He had never really expected an apology .

"Good," House said. "Glad we had this talk."

Both men sat in awkward silence for several minutes, each careful not to look directly at the other.

It was House who finally broke the silence. "Kid still hasn't come back from the dead yet," he pointed out.

"I'm well aware."



"It's not your fault he died. His folks were upset, and it was convenient to blame you."

"I know that."

"Do you?"

Chase turned his head towards House, but said nothing.

"C'mon," House urged. "You've been her all night. If you're really good I'll take you to the cafeteria and let you buy me a bagel to go with my coffee."

There was a hint of a smile on the boy's face. "Are you sure Wilson won't get jealous?" he asked.

"I'm sure he'll get over it somehow," House said as he stood up and motioned for Chase to follow.

"Too bad your Almighty Father couldn't grant your wish," House poked as they were walking out of the chapel.

"I didn't really know what I was hoping for," Chase replied, "but I think maybe he gave me what I needed."


End file.
